may pick up an 89turbo, need help...

Hey everyone, I'm brand spankin new to this forum, I've been reading up but this is my first post. I hope you don't mind helping me out...

I may work a trade for my 95 Accord and an 89 Supra Turbo, mine is a 4 door 5spd LX in excellent condition inside and out with 85k t-belt/pump/tires/radiator has all been changed in the last year and a half. The Supra is in good condition but the paint is faded and there's a few small rust spots beneath the rear glass and one one a pillar beneath windshield trim that need attention, other than that, it runs perfect and the interior is in very nice condition. It has 75k and has a HKS head gasket, new clutch, an aftermarket bov, I'm not sure which one and a turbo timer, that sums up most of the mods. Do you feel this is a fair trade? Blue Book wise, my car is worth a couple thousand more than his but I can understand that on the resale side, the value is similar.

Also, is a Turbo Supra good for an everyday driver? How reliable is the Turbo version? I had an 84 Supra inon turbo n the past and loved it, I wanted another Supra ever since and this seemed to be a good opportunity. What kind of things should I check out and look out for and what can I expect to need to do? Also, how is maintenance different from a non turbo car if any? I'm going to be driving this car roughly 40 miles a day to and from work and need something reliable.

Thanks, I need to decide in the next day or two. :-)

I would say definetly go for it, you only get one chance in a lifetime where someone willingly wants to trade a Supra for a honda. :p If the HG was replaced like he said, and he did a good job lapping the block and prepping the head for it then the hard work is already done for you. Also ask the owner what head studs/bolts he used on the MHG job, ARP studs/bolts are the best, new Toyota studs are acceptable though. The Turbo's are very reliable once you get over the BHG and Rod-Knock, rod-knock almost always caused by low oil so as long as you check your oil alot, (everytime you fill up the gas tank) then it won't happen for a long long time. The blown head gasket problem was just solved with the HKS MHG, like I said before, as long as he did everything properly then you have nothing to worry about for a long time. The only thing that worries me is the rust, just save up and plan to spend $800-1000 on a new paint job and the rust removal one day in the future, it doesn't have to be now but the longer you wait the worse it will get and the more it will cost to fix. Since there is rust there check inside the wheel wells also, above the tire in the back and in the corners that like to hold dirt and sand.

Ok. I just may do it then. Thanks for the tip, I remember him saying the something was machined etc. I will try and find out more on that and the bolts used.

So the Supra Turbo consumes that much oil?? The rod knock issue, was this also a prob for 84 non turbo model? I don't think I ever checked or changed the oil in my 84 LOL and never had any issue at all. Also, he uses synthetic oil, is this good for an older motor? Also back to the rod knock issue, you say as long as the oil is checked frequently, it won't happen for a long long time, by this how long do you mean? 100k, 200k? ...and when it does happen, I'm assuming I pretty much need an engine rebuild to fix?

I can sell my car for about $5500 here, so this Supra as I described worth about that?

Thanks for your help!

It's not that 7m's eat oil, what I mean is check the oil to make sure it's at the correct level. If it gets too low for one reason or another it will cause rod-knock. You should have made it a habit to check the oil and check over the engine bay everytime you go out or fill the tank, everyone should but they don't and then wonder why things break because there haven't kept up the maintanence on the car. It should last a long time, of coarse it also depends on how you drive it, if you rag on it constantly and don't keep up the maintanence then it can only take so much before it goes regardless of how strong the engine is. $5500 is fairly high for an 89, with rust on the body, but the milage is pretty low and it does have some mods with a new MHG.

ok. I will be very easy on the motor, it'll be a daily driver to and from work. Of course I will occasionally gun it but not very often at all.

Thanks again for your help, I'll try and make a decision today or tommorrow.

If anybody else has some advice/tips, I'll be very glad to hear them :-)


...off to work...

so did you do it already? hope you do if you havent.

I'm still not sure... That rust is pretty involved, I was peeping as far as I could see and the spots in the rear look pretty bad beneath the glass, I'm just worried when the windshield and back glass come off to sheetmetal that there may be surprises under there. I talked to some people and it looks like a bare minimum of $600 worth of body work not including paint. There's a couple knick knacks I have to replace like window switches, emblems, hood/trunk struts etc. as well.

It's just a lot of $, probably at least a couple thousand $'s I have to dish out to even get it to the same condition as my car which needs 0 work. I know in the long run, the Supra will be nice but how much $ I have to put into it to get it there is what I'm worried about...

on a brighter not, mechanically, it does runs really smooth...